U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lavelle, William Griffith (b. 1883) --------------------------------------------------------------------- A History of Preston County West Virginia Biographical Department, Supplied by J. R. Cole Kingwood, W. Va., The Journal Publishing Company, 1914 by H. S. Whetsell (This sketch contributed by W. Scott Garner.) Pages 788-791, W. G. LAVELLE, A. M, LL. B. William Griffith Lavelle, a graduate of Rock Hill College and the law department of the West Virginia University, and now post-master at Tunnelton, was serving with distinction as a justice of the peace at Tunnelton when only twenty-seven years old. He is also one of the most gifted and promising of the younger members of the bar in Preston county. The only son of William J. and Susan A. (Griffith) Lavelle, he first saw the light of day at Tunnelton, August 15, 1883. His early studies were conducted in the public schools of his native village, and at the age of thirteen he entered Rock Hill College, Ellicott City, Md., from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1904 with the degree of A. B. He then took two years of the three-year course in the law department of the Georgetown University at Washington, D. C, and completed his law studies at the West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va., where in June, 1910, he received the degree of LL. B. In the same year he received the degree of A. M. from his old alma mater. Rock Hill College, where he had the honor of delivering the master's oration at the commencement exercises of that year. Returning to his native county immediately upon the completion of his education, he was admitted to the bar upon the motion of the Hon. William G. Brown, at Kingwood, in June, 1910, and at once located in Tunnelton for the practice of law. From the first he was extremely successful in all legal business committed to his care, and evinced a wide and deep knowledge of the law. In April, 1911, he was appointed by the County Court as a justice of the .peace for Kingwood district, to fill the unexpired term of Joseph A. Miller, resigned. During his administration of this office, which was a very trying one on account of the large construction work of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, then under way at Tunnelton, and the hundreds of foreign workmen employed, he proved himself a fearless prosecutor of all violators of the law. He never, however, permitted the processes of his court to border on persecution. Indeed, his administration of justice was so tempered with mercy and common sense that it won the praise alike of the general public, the attorneys at the bar and the county officials. The press of the county was also practically unanimous in commending the manner in which he conducted the business of his office, and his careful and accurate reports to the County Court. William G. Lavelle is a Democrat by inheritance, an orator by nature, and has a liberal endowment of that genuine wit so characteristic of the Celtic race. Alike at Rock Hill College, Georgetown University and the West Virginia University, he won first prizes in the oratorical arena—receiving a gold medal at Rock Hill, where his subject was, "Whither Are We Drifting?", and a cash prize of one hundred dollars at Georgetown, where he flayed organized wealth in a masterful discussion of "Monopolies, Trusts and Combines"; and also a fifty dollar cash prize at the West Virginia University, where he ably maintained the affirmative in a debate on the "Popular Election of United States Senators." In 1910 he spoke to the old soldiers at Tunnelton camp- ground from the same platform with Attorney General Conley, and received an ovation testifying to the superiority of his address. In the Moorefield convention of the same year he had the honor of placing the Honorable William G. Brown before that body as a candidate for Congress, in what was acknowledged to be one of the most eloquent speeches made in the convention. After Mr. Brown's nomination, young Lavelle was in active charge of his headquarters for a time, and conducted the publicity bureau throughout the successful campaign that followed. He took an active part in the Democratic state convention of 1912, at Huntington, where he served on the important committee of resolutions and platform, and by his persistent eloquence succeeded in placing a demand for a pure seed law in the party platform — a measure which would be of untold benefit to the farmers of this state if enacted into law. He was also largely instrumental in securing the nomination of several candidates on the ticket, notably that of Ben. H. Hiner as a candidate for congressman-at-large — a gentleman who had long been his personal friend. On July 6, 1912, Mr. Lavelle was made the candidate of the Democratic party of Preston county for the office of Prosecuting Attorney, and with his habitual energy at once plunged into an active campaign. Being unusually bright and intelligent, endowed by nature with a liberal share of old-fashioned commonsense, and equipped with the best training that modern schools can give, he inaugurated a campaign that has never perhaps been equalled by any Democratic candidate in old Preston. He visited all parts of the county, making thirty-three set speeches, and daily conversing with all sorts and conditions of the great common people. While he could not be expected to overcome the great Republican majority of 2,600, yet so effective was his whirlwind campaign that this majority was reduced to 1,300—cut squarely in half— and his reputation as a gifted orator was firmly established throughout the county of his birth. It had already been established among school men and poHtical leaders in West Virginia. Not even his political foes doubted his ability to successfully conduct the business of the Prosecuting Attorney's office, and his friends who are legion, regretted their inability to "give the young man a chance" to show the sterling qualities that are in him by serving his own .people in that important position. His brilliant campaign, in the face of insurmountable obstacles, crowned him with a reputation for ability and fearlessness that was in itself a victory, and gave him a permanent place with the "unterrified" workers of the world — the men who do things. On March 30, 1913, Mr. Lavelle was called to Washington City, where he remained until August 1 of that year, in the employ of the United States Government. He then returned to his native state, and on August 4, 1913, took editorial charge of the "West Virginia Argus," at Kingwood — perhaps the best known and most widely circulated Democratic journal in northern West Virginia. His assumption of the editorial chair was hailed by a chorus of compliments from nearly the entire press of the state, and not a few newspapers beyond her borders joined in the grand acclaim. At the same time Mr. Lavelle opened a law office on Price street, Kingwood, in the Martin Building — one of the finest equipped modern office buildings in the county. In his religious affiliations Mr. Lavelle is a Catholic, and holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Grafton Lodge No. 308, and in the Knights of Columbus, Grafton Council N. 713. He is also a member of the National Greek Letter Fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, Delta Chapter, of the West Virginia University. On the 12th of November, 1913, Mr. Lavelle rounded out his career as a young man by taking to himself a better half, in the person of Miss Jessie E. Stephens, a brilliant and accomplished young lady of Washington, D. C, at the Cathedral, in Baltimore, Md., the solemn ceremony being performed by Rev. Father P. C. Gavin, Chancellor of the Baltimore diocese. On March 25, 1914, Mr. Lavelle's name was sent to the United States Senate by President Wilson for confirmation as postmaster for the town of his nativity. On the following day he was confirmed, and on April 15, 1914, he was duly installed, under his commission, as postmaster at Tunnelton. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Preston County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/preston/bios.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------